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Research Resources

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Harry B. Baker papers

Creator : Baker, Harry B.

1891-1946, 1.9 linear ft

Harry B. Baker (1868-1941) was an illustrator who taught at the New York and Paris branches of the New York School of Fine and Applied Art (which became Parsons School of Design) in the early 20th century. Before moving to New York, Baker traveled around the American West. He illustrated bar fights, cowboys, Native Americans, and street scenes. The collection includes photographs of Baker and his students, a letter from Frank Alvah Parsons, identity cards and papers, and illustrations by Baker, including one for the cover of Western Story magazine.

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Jane Bannerman art and design work

Creator : Bannerman, Jane

circa 1927-circa 1990, undated, 2.5 linear ft

Jane Campbell Bannerman studied graphic design and illustration at the New York School of Fine and Applied Art (now Parsons School of Design), graduating in 1930. She worked for several New York-based firms, including McMillen, Inc., as a graphic and interior designer, and later opened her own textile design and interior decorating business. The collection primarily consists of student work, commercial design work, and travel watercolors, as well as clippings, photographs, and printed materials.

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Stanley Barrows papers

Creator : Barrows, Stanley

circa 1934-1993, 1.8 linear ft

Stanley Barrows (1914-1995) graduated from Parsons School of Design in 1940 and taught interior design at the school for over twenty years, becoming mentor to several generations of notable designers. The collection includes examples of student work compiled by Barrows, course outlines, class travel itineraries, reference photographs of Italian decorative styles, biographical material, and correspondence from Barrows related to his activities as a designer and teacher.

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Roselaine Boylan student work

Creator : Boylan, Roselaine

1929-1930, 0.2 linear ft

Advertising illustrations by Roselaine Boylan completed as a student at the New York School of Fine and Applied Art (now, Parsons School of Design). Boylan studied in the Graphic Advertising and Illustration Department in 1929-1930. The collection is comprised of five student assignments, probably executed for a third year advertising design class. The assignments consist of illustrated advertising displays executed in tempera and watercolor for the Grayline Tours bus company, Jell-O, Bloomingdale's department store, and Lord & Taylor.

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Mary L. Brandt home furnishings training course materials

Creator : Brandt, Mary L.

circa 1946, 1953, 0.1 linear ft

Mary Largent Brandt was an interior decorator, author, lecturer, and merchandising expert. In the 1940s, she developed a training course for retail sales staff to promote more effective merchandising of home furnishings. Included in this collection are Home Furnishings Training Course: Handbook of Home Furnishings (1946) and a binder entitled, Home Furnishings Training Course: Summary of Visual Chart Materials for Home Study and Reference (undated).

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Constance P. Brown papers

Creator : Brown, Constance

1913-1961, 0.3 linear ft

Constance P. Brown attended the New York School of Fine and Applied Art (later, Parsons School of Design) from 1913 until 1917, and worked as secretary to Frank Alvah Parsons sometime in the teens or 1920s. The collection consists of postcards and a letter from Parsons to Brown, faculty announcements, school circulars and lecture advertisements, interior decoration class rolls, clippings from 1913-1934, and correspondence with the Parsons School of Design Alumni Association, 1944 and 1961.

Zack Carr papers

Creator : Carr, Zack

1969-2001, 6.8 linear ft

After graduating from Parsons School of Design Fashion Design Department in 1973, Zack Carr (1945-2000) worked for B. Altman, Donald Brooks and, most significantly, Calvin Klein, where he was creative director. In 1984, Carr started his own line, the Zack Carr Collection, before rejoining Calvin Klein in 1987. The papers consist of material produced and compiled between 1969 and 2000, and include idea books, photographs, news clippings, student work, and a large number of fashion sketches.

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Mariette Cassels student notebooks

Creator : Cassels, Mariette

probably 1930-1931, 0.8 linear ft

The collection consists of eight notebooks kept by Mariette Cassels (1905-1993) while studying in the Paris Ateliers of the New York School of Fine and Applied Art (now, Parsons The New School for Design) in 1930-1931. Includes lecture notes, photographs, postcards, clippings and sketches of furniture and decorative moldings.

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Edith d'Errecalde papers

Creator : d'Errecalde, Edith

circa 1940s-1981, 0.4 linear ft

Edith d'Errecalde (1905-2002) worked for Mainbocher in the 1940s and started her own sportswear company, Maxmil, in 1951. Later d'Errecalde worked for Evan-Picone and as fashion director for Cohama (Cohn-Hall-Marx). The d'Errecalde papers consist of photographs, sketches, news clippings, advertisements, press kits, correspondence, and notes and manuscripts for articles and lectures. D'Errecalde was a critic and lecturer at Parsons School of Design in 1969-1970.

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Casey Danson student work

Creator : Danson, Casey Coates

1972-1975, 2 linear ft

The collection documents projects completed by Casey Coates when she was a student in Parsons School of Design's Environmental Design program between 1972 and 1975. Materials consist of sketches on tracing paper, site plans, land use, climate, and systems studies for three building projects, as well as a silent, color super-8 film capturing street life in Danson's neighborhood on the upper west side of Manhattan. Danson created the film in response to an assignment to study the effect of a man-made environment upon the people who live in it.

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Ethel Dean papers

Creator : Dean, Ethel

probably 1925 - circa 1950s, 3 linear ft

The collection includes class notes and a clip book documenting decorative styles compiled by Ethel Epstein (who later used the surnames Dean and Evans) when she was a student at the New York School of Fine and Applied Art (later, Parsons School of Design) in the Interior Architecture and Decoration Department, around 1925. Also includes textile and wallpaper samples designed by Dean, probably dating from the 1950s, and a portfolio of her costume design drawings for the Broadway production of "The Laughing Woman" (1936).

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Melvin Dwork papers

Creator : Dwork, Melvin

1933-2012, 3.2 linear ft

Named one of Architectural Digest's top 100 designers in 1990 and 2002, Melvin Dwork (1922- ) attended Parsons School of Design in the 1940s, and later served on the Parsons Advisory Committee. The collection (1930s through the 2000s) includes student work, slides and photographs of professional work, news clippings, press releases and publicity materials.

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Roy Fleming collection

Creator : Fleming, Roy

1900-1915, 0.4 linear ft.

Canadian elementary school teacher Roy F. Fleming (1878-1958) produced the notebook and drawing in this collection while attending the New York School of Art (later, Parsons School of Design) between 1902 and 1907. Fleming's notes are accompanied by detailed pen and ink sketches illustrating lectures by Frank Alvah Parsons, William Merritt Chase, Robert Henri, and others. The collection also includes a 1902 photograph of Fleming, his diploma, and a color chart created for art instruction.

Creator : Gardner, Jean (Jean M.)

1972-1974, 11 folders, 1 audio reel

This small record group documents two New York City-based projects taught by Parsons School of Design professor Jean McClintock Gardner in the early 1970s. One project focused on the Southern Boulevard Redemption Area in the Bronx, the other on Union Square in Manhattan. These projects involved original research, collaboration with neighborhood organizations and communities, and urban rehabilitation design proposals by students in the Environmental Design Department (now the School of Constructed Environments). Materials include a grant application, an audio recording, a press kit and publicity records, and student research in the form of data sets, interview summaries, design proposals, drafts and final reports, and maps.

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Francis J. Geck papers

Creator : Geck, Francis

1923-2001, 3.5 linear ft

Francis Geck (1900-2005) graduated from the New York School of Fine and Applied Art (later, Parsons School of Design) in 1924 and taught interior design at the school's Paris Ateliers until 1927. Following a professional career in his native Detroit, Geck became a professor of Fine Arts at University of Colorado, where he taught for 39 years. The papers contain correspondence with Parsons administrators, including Frank Alvah Parsons, design renderings and student work, publications, and course-related materials.

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Albert Hadley papers

Creator : Hadley, Albert

1947-1999, 0.4 linear ft

Albert Hadley (1920-2012) graduated from Parsons School of Design in 1949 and served on the faculty from 1949 through 1954. Hadley later joined Dorothy "Sister" Parish to form the interior design firm Parish-Hadley. The collection includes correspondence, design and lecture notes, student work and a mock-up for a booklet.

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Margaret Schmid Hartelius student work

Creator : Hartelius, Margaret A.

1946-1947, 0.1 linear ft

Consists of two illustrations completed by Margaret Schmid (1922-2001) for an advertising design course at Parsons School of Design. After graduating in 1947. Schmid, whose name changed when she married Paul Hartelius, Jr., went on to a successful fifty-year career as an illustrator and children's book author.

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Margaret Lange student notebook

Creator : Lange, Margaret

1938-1939, 2 linear ft

Margaret Louise Lange's notebook, produced while a student of Costume Design and Illustration at Parsons School of Design, 1938-1939, includes lecture notes, sketches, color studies and fashion clippings.

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Parsons School of Design final projects for Time: Frame

Creator : Leopold, Susan

2013, 1.1 linear feet

This collection consists of nineteen volumes of an encyclopedia transformed into individual works of art by students for Susan Leopold's undergraduate Time: Frame class, offered through Parsons School of Design's School of Art, Media and Technology.

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Joseph Marcella student work

Creator : Marcella, Joseph

1968-1971, 2004, 5.8 linear ft

The collection consists of student work and related records created or received by Joseph Marcella while studying in the Design Correlations Department (now Product Design) of Parsons School of Design between 1968 and 1970. In addition to project files for portable structures, underwater and outerspace habitations, and a one-piece plastic chair, the collection includes photographs, posters, and textual materials documenting the first Earth Day observances at Parsons.

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Lyman Martin interior decoration work and papers

Creator : Martin, Lyman

1928-1992, 6.3 linear ft

Lyman Martin (1908-2003) graduated from Parsons School of Design in 1939 and went to work for Thedlow, a prestigious interior decoration firm. After serving in World War II, Martin returned to Thedlow, where he created interiors, produced watercolor renderings, designed rugs and painted murals for clients. In 1969, Martin was appointed president of Thedlow and stayed until the company closed in 1979. The collection includes student work, renderings and drawings of interiors, sketches, an illustrated European travel diary, floor plans, photographs, news clippings, and exhibition records.

Ina Dell Marvin student work

Creator : Marvin, Ina Dell

1928-1931, 1970s, 0.5 linear ft

The collection consists of student work and related documents kept by Ina Dell Marvin (1893-1991) while studying in the Paris Ateliers of the New York School of Fine and Applied Art (now, Parsons School of Design). Includes class reference materials, clip books, correspondence, diploma, London itinerary, lecture notes, photographs and renderings of furniture, decorative pieces, and interiors.

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Lydia Matthews records

Creator : Matthews, Lydia

2003-2012, 2.2 linear feet; 7.11 gb

Lydia Matthews is a curator, writer, professor in the Fine Arts program at Parsons and founding director of the Curatorial Design Research Lab, which spans various university divisions across The New School. This collection contains teaching and administrative materials pertaining to Matthews's involvement with teaching and governance at The New School.

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Catherine Minkiewicz student work

Creator : Minkiewicz, Catherine

1964-1966, 2.7 linear ft

The collection consists primarily of course assignments in the form of a collage, presentation boards, photographs, and a watercolor rendering by interior designer Catherine Minkiewicz (1966) during her studies in Parsons School of Design's Interior Design Department.

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New School Periodicals

Creator : New School

1940-2012, 3.8 linear feet

Consists of periodicals and serial publications produced by administrative offices, academic departments, and students of Parsons The New School for Design and The New School. Includes alumni publications dating from 1940 and student newspapers dating from 1957.
Periodicals: Included in this record group are publications issued on a regular basis by The New School, or schools, divisions and offices of the university. The Archives is in the process inventorying these publications and will make a comprehensive title list available online in the future. These materials are now available for research use; please consult with the Archives about accessing periodicals by title or research topic.

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New School photograph collection

Creator : New School

1920-2000, 9 linear feet

This collection primarily consists of photographs of New School students, faculty, administrators, buildings, class sessions, student life, and events. While the photographs span the period between 1933 and 1984, most of the photographs are concentrated between the 1940s and the 1970s.
This collection is a compilation of several groups of photographs transferred to the archives over several years, primarily by The New School's Fogelman Library and President's Office. Photographs depict class sessions, students, faculty, buildings, guest speakers and events, and many were clearly intended for use in New School bulletins and promotional materials. Some have been heavily marked up for publication. Also included are press photographs of guest speakers furnished to The New School by the speakers' representatives. Photographers, when identified, are indicated in the folder title.

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Parsons School of Design oral history program

Creator : New School

1994, 2010-2014, 8.86 gb

This ongoing oral history program documents the lives and work of designers, artists, and others active in the fields of art and design. Interviewees include Parsons alumni, faculty, and professionals without a direct Parsons connection.

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New School web archive collection

Creator : New School Archives and Special Collections

2016-2018, 215.4 gb

The New School Web Archive Collection consists of New School websites captured using the Internet Archive's web archiving software, Archive-It.
The websites collected are continuous with material held by the New School Archives in analog and other digital formats.
The websites collected here document public relations, events such as exhibitions, and public-facing publications. With the exception of The New School Labor Relations webpage, there are, as of 2018, no administrative sites contained herein.
Contents include websites related to university news and updates; critical, arts, and literary journals associated with university departments; exhibitions held at, or affiliated with, The New School; and websites documenting labor organizing and relations on campus.
Due to the size of the collection, the techniques and tools of web harvesting, and the evolving nature of the Internet, some websites have been crawled more comprehensively than others and are represented more faithfully than others.

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Parsons Table research files

Creator : New School Archives and Special Collections

1923-2006, 0.4 linear ft

The Parsons Table research files consist primarily of work conducted and assembled by the director and staff of the New School Archives in 2002 to support a Parsons School of Design's Design and Management Department project in which students would construct and market a version of the Parsons Table. Archives staff prepared a questionnaire for alumni to gather information about the origins of the table and its design. Several responses include sketches of the table. While furnishing no conclusive evidence, these files will be useful to researchers investigating the history of the table, its relationship to the school, and the stories that have been told about it.

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New School Art Center audio recordings of public programs

Creator : New School Art Center

1963-1972, 13 reels

The New School Art Center was established in the fall of 1960 with a donation from the Albert J. List Foundation, and remained in operation until 1973. Directed throughout its existence by Paul Mocsanyi, the Center's programs reflected the New School's founding commitment to engage provocative subjects, using art to explore contemporary political and social issues. The collection represents sound recordings of events sponsored by the Art Center, often in conjunction with an exhibition or as part of educational programming.

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Jeanette Olliver student work

Creator : Olliver, Jeanette

1941-1943, 0.3 linear ft

The collection consists of Jeanette Olliver's student work in the form of lecture notes, detail sketches and course materials, representing her work in the Parsons Interior Architecture and Decoration Department in the early 1940s.

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Parson School of Design Henry Wolf Lecture Series

Creator : Parsons School of Design

1998, 3 videos

This collection consists of three video recordings of lectures held as part of the Henry Wolf Lecture Series. This series, established in honor of and in conjunction with prominent graphic designer Henry Wolf, focused on all aspects of graphic design. Speakers featured in these recordings, all held in Fall 1998, include Henry Wolf, Ivan Chermayeff, and Milton Glaser. The presentations given were before a large audience at Parsons, and were intended for students, faculty, and possibly the public.

Creator : Parsons School of Design

1914-2009, 26 linear ft

Collection contains materials created by academic departments of Parsons School of Design. In addition to documentation of Parsons' main campus in New York City, Includes materials originating from overseas facilities and affiliate schools, such as Otis Art Institute (California), Paris Ateliers/Parsons Paris, and Altos de Chavon (Dominican Republic).

Parsons School of Design administrative and other offices collection

Creator : Parsons School of Design

1998-2009, 7.3 linear feet

This collection consists of administrative records produced by a variety of offices and departments of Parsons School of Design. Included are memos, correspondence, photographs, reports, and printed promotional material, as well as items pertaining to New School building construction. The administrative offices from which material has been collected herein includes Admissions, the Board of Governors, Career Services, Design and Constructio, the Development Office, External Partnerships, Human Resources, and Student Services. For additional related material, researchers should consult the Parsons School of Design administrative and other offices collection (pre-2008 accessions).

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Parsons School of Design administrative and other offices collection (pre-2008 accessions)

Creator : Parsons School of Design

1909-2007 (bulk 1973-1999), 17 linear ft

Predominantly comprised of records produced by the Development Office, these papers document fund raising initiatives, special programs, events, and alumni reunion plans. Other offices represented in this group are Admissions, Alumni Relations, Career Services, Public Relations, and Publication Design, Special Events, and Student Council publications. Also includes provisional charter for the New York School of Fine and Applied Art, 1909.

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Parsons School of Design Advanced Research Seminar student manifestoes

Creator : Parsons School of Design

2016 December, 0.8 linear feet

Collection consists of twenty-three student projects created as a final assignment for Professor Esther Choi's "Advanced Reasearch Seminar: Constructed Environments" during the fall 2016 semester. All students were undergraduates enrolled in The New School's Parsons School of Design, primarily in architecture, interior design, and product design programs. The projects take the form of design manifestoes, combining text, images, and different forms of bindings, materials and presentation.

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Parsons School of Design course catalog collection

Creator : Parsons School of Design

1896-2012, 9 linear ft

The Parsons course catalogs collection consists of publications from Parsons New School of Design and its affiliate programs, including catalogs for overseas schools, and continuing education and AAS programs. Catalogs include information regarding pedagogy objectives, school policies and admissions requirements, departmental and course descriptions, faculty and administration rosters, facilities, fees, and examples of student work. Materials for the years 1896-1912 consists primarily of photocopies of print advertisements for the Chase School of Art (which became the New York School of Art, then the New York School of Fine and Applied Art, and, later, Parsons School of Design).

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Parsons School of Design Dean's Office oral history project

Creator : Parsons School of Design

2013-2015, 2.75 gb

This collection consists of audio interviews with alumni of Parsons School of Design recorded between 2013 and 2015. Interviewees include James Drake, Nancye Green, Michael Donovan, Marc Jacobs, Dee McDonald-Miller, and Kay Unger. Interviewers include Executive Dean of Parsons Joel Towers and The New School Archives Director Wendy Scheir. The interviews are retained as digital files.

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Parsons School of Design governance collection

Creator : Parsons School of Design

1912-2003, 1.5 linear ft

Prior to 1970, when Parsons School of Design existed as an independent entity, it was headed by a president and a powerful Board of Trustees. Upon the merger of Parsons with The New School, legal authority transferred to a central Board of Trustees for The New School and the Parsons board became a Board of Overseers. The collection includes minutes and reports from before and after the merger with The New School. Subjects frequently addressed include financial expenditures and development, institutional growth, department curriculum, student achievement, and implementation of new technologies.

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Creator : Parsons School of Design

1968-2007, undated, 3.3 linear ft

Contains handbooks and guides issued by the administration of Parsons School of Design and The New School to familiarize Parsons faculty, students, and students' families with school regulations, policies, and procedures. Also includes materials designed to acquaint students with aspects of living and studying in New York City.

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Parsons School of Design marketing and promotional materials collection

Creator : Parsons School of Design

1913-2011, 3.2 linear ft

Printed publicity materials including but not limited to circulars, mailers, promotional booklets and pamphlets, and postcards generally advertising Parsons School of Design, or a particular course or program of study not connected to a specific department. Also includes a 16mm film depicting students at Parsons Paris in 1948.

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Parsons School of Design MFA Photography program theses

Creator : Parsons School of Design

2015-2017, 42.8 gb; 601 files

This collection consists of the digital versions of the graduate theses created by students in the Parsons Photography MFA program beginning in 2015 and ongoing on a yearly basis.
The theses consist of mixed-media digital images, video, and Microsoft PowerPoint files. Also included are Word doc and pdf files containing artist statements.

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Parsons School of Design Office of the President records

Creator : Parsons School of Design

1952-1970, 14.5 linear feet

Consists of records created and received by Sterling A. Callisen, President of Parsons School of Design from 1959 until 1963, and Francis A. Ruzicka, president of Parsons School of Design from 1963 until his resignation in 1969. The collection contains correspondence, financial records, handwritten notes, proposals, minutes and reports circulated between Presidents Callisen and Ruzicka and the Parsons School of Design Board of Trustees.
Prior to Parsons School of Design's affiliation with the New School for Social Research, the school was governed by a president and a powerful board of trustees. Frank Alvah Parsons served as president for many years and was succeeded by William M. Odom in 1930 following Parsons' death. Odom, too, served until his death in 1940, at which time Van Day Truex assumed the school's presidency. Both Odom and Truex were Parsons School of Design alumni. Following Truex as president were Pierre Bedard, Sterling A. Callisen, and Francis A. Ruzicka, none of whom were alumni. Callisen was formerly a trustee and Ruzicka was a faculty member. When Parsons School of Design became a part of the New School for Social Research in early 1970, the role of dean took on greater significance.

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Parsons School of Design poster collection (pre-2007)

Creator : Parsons School of Design

1927-2006, 22.3 linear ft

Contains 236 posters created for academic departments and administrative offices of Parsons The New School for Design, including promotional posters for summer sessions and study abroad programs, recruiting by specific departments, and publicity for exhibitions, public programs, and internship fairs. With the exception of a 1927 poster advertising a dance, the series does not contain any material created prior to 1956.

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Creator : Parsons School of Design Photography Department

1982-1985, 62 audiocassettes

Organized by Benedict J. Fernandez, chair of the New School-Parsons Department of Photography, the Focus workshops and lecture series began in 1981 and were offered annually in the late spring as a week-long intensive that may have grown into a longer series in later years. Lectures consist of presentations by working photographers at Parsons School of Design, often showing slides while offering anecdotes about their experiences in the field, highlighting techniques employed, personal and professional challenges, and career trajectories. The lecture series ran during the same period as the workshop, offering students from the class and a general audience an opportunity to meet and hear from practitioners in particular photographic genres. In addition to the fashion and photojournalism series represented in this collection, there were also workshops offered in advertising and fine art photography. The Focus series was targeted to continuing education students in both Parsons and The New School Adult Division, rather than matriculated undergraduates. The workshops were cross-listed, appearing in both the Parsons School of Design continuing education course catalogs and the New School Adult Division catalogs.
Lecturers include Dmitri Baltermants, Ross Baughman, Harry Benson, Arthur Deresian, Harry Dawson, Dan Dry, John Durniak, Claudio Edinger, David Eitlinger, Charles Gatewood, Leslie Goldman, James Hamilton, Charles Harbutt, Gregory Heisler, Walter Heun, Abigail Heyman, George Holz, Jose Lopez, Mary Ellen Mark, Keith McManus, Susan Meiselas, Michael O'Brien, John Loengard, Sylvia Plachy, Arthur Rothstein, Richard Sandler, Chiang Ning Sheng, Douglas Vann, and Alex Webb. In addition to the lectures by individual photographers, there are several panels, including a panel on Afghanistan led by Jim Sheldon, a street photography panel led by Ben Fernandez (who started the Photography Department at Parsons and founded the Focus series), with Angel Franco and Helinda; and a panel on Roy Stryker held at the International Center for Photography.
This collection consists of audio recordings of these events.

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Parsons School of Design Alumni Association records

Creator : Parsons School of Design. Alumni Association.

1920-1970, 16 linear ft

The Parsons School of Design Alumni Association was incorporated in 1952 and continued until Parsons School of Design merged into the New School for Social Research in 1970. Records contain correspondence, financial records, minutes, photographic materials, printed materials, scrapbooks of clippings and subject files. Also includes documents generated by earlier alumni associations that the Alumni Association incorporated into its working files.

Parsons School of Design MA Architecture and Design Criticism program theses

Creator : Parsons School of Design. Environmental Design Department.

1987-1995, .8 linear ft.

The Master of the Arts in Liberal Arts: Architecture and Design Criticism graduate program began in 1986 and graduated its last student in 1997. The program was jointly administered by Parsons School of Design, where it fell within the Environmental Design program (now the School of Constructed Environments), and the New School for Social Research’s Graduate Faculty. The collection contains eleven theses written by students who graduated from the program between 1987 and 1995.

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Charles S. Olton records

Creator : Parsons School of Design. Office of the Dean

1974-1999, 7 linear ft

Consists of records created and received by Charles S. Olton, dean of Parsons School of Design from 1989 until 1997. Includes subject files on committees, departments and programs, events, individuals, international projects, and general administrative issues. Some files are restricted. Please email archivist@newschool.edu for details.

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David C. Levy records

Creator : Parsons School of Design. Office of the Dean

1952-1990, 7 linear ft

David Corcos Levy served as dean of Parsons School of Design from 1970 until 1989. The bulk of these records were generated between 1970 and 1984, after the merger of Parsons and the New School for Social Research, and consist of memos, correspondence, reports, and subject files related to Levy's administrative tenure.
Correspondents include a range of New School and Parsons administrators, including New School president John R. Everett; New School dean Allen Austill; Albert Landa; Oscar Kolin, chair of the Helena Rubinstein Foundation and a member of the Parsons Board of Overseers; and Neil Hoffman, dean of the Otis Art Institute of Parsons School of Design. Frequent faculty correspondents include Martica Sawin, Mary Ann Scherr, John Russo, and Irwin Touster.
Categories and subjects represented herein include developing and implementing new degree programs; the process of merging academic institutions, including the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles; faculty relations and unionization; accreditation; program and department establishment and design; and fundraising activities. Also found here are materials created by the Parsons Board of Trustees and, after the merger, the New School Board of Overseers.

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Lesley Cadman records

Creator : Parsons School of Design. Office of the Dean

1976-2007 (bulk 1982-2001), 3.3 linear ft

The Lesley Cadman records were created or received by Lesley Cadman during her term as vice dean of Parsons School of Design. Some records pre-date Cadman's arrival at Parsons. Documents from one file are restricted. Please email archivist@newschool.edu for details

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Parsons School of Design Office of the Executive Dean records

Creator : Parsons School of Design. Office of the Dean

1995-2013, 2.2 linear feet

This collection contains the records of the Office of the Executive Dean of Parsons School of Design. Included are correspondence, memos, reports, clippings and press releases, syllabi and other curriculum and course-related material, and printed promotional material. The material was created throughout the tenure of four Parsons deans, including H. Randolph Swearer 1998-2004), Paul Goldberger (2004-2006), Timothy Marshall (2006-2009), and Joel Towers (2009-2018).

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Parsons School of Design Product Design Department records

Creator : Parsons School of Design. Product Design Dept.

1986-1998, 6.6 linear ft

Produced during Richard Yelle's term as department chair of Product Design (as well as its predecessor names: Clay, Fiber, Metal Design; Clay, Metal, Textile Design; and Clay, Metal, Textile, and Product Design). Includes administrative records, information regarding competitions and exhibitions, student work, course descriptions, evaluations, and curriculum development materials. Also includes examples of Yelle's professional work, and a poster for an exhibition by Constantin Boym.

Creator : Parsons the New School for Design. Adam and Sophie Gimbel Design Library.

1957-2009, 9.1 linear feet

The records of the Adam and Sophie Gimbel Design Library of Parsons The New School for Design consist of administrative files generated by library administrators and school executives. Topics include library collections, facilities, fund raising, instruction, policies and procedures, and staffing, as well as the library's role in school acceditation. While the earliest records document the library's activities in the late 1950s, the bulk of the records dates from the period after Parsons re-located from East 54th Street to 66 Fifth Avenue in 1972.
The earliest mention of a library appears in the 1922-1923 New York School of Fine and Applied Art course catalog. In addition to reference books in English and in French, the library also advertised photographic plates and lantern slides for the study of costume and interior design as well as a materials library. Mary E. Herrick, a "trained librarian," appears on the catalog's faculty page as Librarian and Museum Director. In successive decades, the school advertised the library's growing collections of periodicals, rare books, visual materials, and archival collections in the catalog and continued to list library administrators in the rank of school faculty.
In 1970, Parsons School of Design became affiliated with the New School for Social Research and in the following years transferred its operations from its East 54th Street location to 66 Fifth Avenue in Greenwich Village. In 1974, the library moved to its present location on the second floor of 2 West 13th Street, and the previously unnamed library was dedicated as the Adam L. Gimbel Design Library in honor of a gift from the family of the Saks Fifth Avenue executive. In 1982, it was rededicated as the Adam and Sophie Gimbel Design Library following a fundraising initiative headed by Sophie Gimbel's son Jay Rossbach and Saks executive Helen O'Hagan.

Creator : Parsons the New School for Design. Fashion Design Dept.

1963-2003, 41 cassettes

This collection primarily consists of documentary and promotional footage related to the Parsons School of Design Fashion Design Department's annual benefit and runway show, including the preliminary jury show where designs are selected to be included in the runway show. Also included is a small amount of Fashion Design Department related audiovisual material not directly connected to the annual benefit and fashion show.
Originally named the Chase School of Art, Parsons School of Design was founded in 1896 by American Impressionist painter William Merritt Chase with a focus on the fine arts: painting, drawing, and sculpture. Two years after its founding, the school changed its name to the New York School of Art. In 1907, Frank Alvah Parsons became an administrator at the school and made design an important part of the educational mission. He introduced the first full professional departments in interior design, fashion design, and graphic design. To recognize the growth of the design curriculum, the school was renamed the New York School of Fine and Applied Art in 1909. In honor of Mr. Parsons, who was important in steering the school's development and in shaping arts education through his theories about linking art and industry, the institution became Parsons School of Design in 1941. It became a division of the New School for Social Research in 1970.
The school offered courses in fashion design, then called "costume design," as early as 1904. Frank Alvah Parsons enlarged upon these courses to create a full professional department in 1907. Over the next four decades, its name was changed several times as follows: Costume or Clothes Design (1918), Costume Design and Costume Illustration (1921), Costume Design (1922), Costume Design and Costume Illustration (1923), Costume Design and Costume Construction (1925), Costume Design and Construction (1927), Costume Design, Construction and Illustration (1928), Costume Design and Illustration (1937). In 1954, the department was divided to form the Fashion Design Department and the Fashion Illustration Department. As of 2016, Parsons School of Design's School of Fashion offers AAS, BFA, and MFA degrees.
In the early twentieth century, the school’s fashion curriculum focused on the creation of sketches, which could be sold to manufacturers. Then, in 1915, the students not only sketched but began working with fabric and producing finished garments. In its current incarnation, the School of Fashion places an emphasis on understanding the entirety of the design process from the initial concept to the final product and its marketing. The curriculum seeks to educate students on the fundamentals of good design, as well as to develop essential skills specific to fashion design, such as model drawing and pattern drafting, which are applied to real-life design problems. Students also research the historical purposes and implementations of fashion design, study business practices, and investigate the commercial impact on the profession.
In 1919, to supplement the core group of instructors, the department initiated a program to invite stellar designers to critique student work. By 1954, juniors and seniors were working under the close supervision of special visiting critics to design and create garments. The department’s curriculum was revised in 2001, such that the critic mentorship program was confined to the junior year, while seniors worked independently to produce a thesis collection which exhibited their own individual style.
Notable fashion designers who have attended, although not necessarily graduated from Parsons School of Design include Gilbert Adrian (1923), Claire McCardell (1928), Donald Brooks (1950), Willi Smith (1969), Donna Karan (1969), Anna Sui (1973), Isaac Mizrahi (1982), Marc Jacobs (1984), Tracy Reese (1984), Mark Badgley (1985), James Mischka (1985), Derek Lam (1990), Narciso Rodriguez (1991), Behnaz Sarafpour (1992), Peter Som (1997), Lazaro Hernandez (2002), and Jack McCollough (2002).

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Creator : Parsons the New School for Design. Fashion Design Dept.

1941-2008, undated, 148 linear ft

Contains the records of the Fashion Design Department of Parsons The New School for Design. Records include course syllabi and descriptions, look books, clippings scrapbooks, student work, and annual fashion benefit planning records, photographs, and programs. A name index for searching Parsons alumni and faculty in the clippings scrapbooks may be found at http://guides.library.newschool.edu/index.

Parsons School of Design School of Fashion records

Creator : Parsons the New School for Design. Fashion Design Dept.

1900-2017, 1 linear feet

This collection contains material pertaining to the Parsons School of Design School of Fashion. Records include photos, collages, posters, publications, publicity material, student work, and dolls. The materials are both analog and on CD/DVD.

Frank Alvah Parsons correspondence and tribute by James Wilfrid Kerr

Creator : Parsons, Frank Alvah

1925-1930, 0.1 linear ft

The collection contains correspondence from Frank Alvah Parsons, president of the New York School of Fine and Applied Art (later, Parsons School of Design), to alumni James Wilfrid Kerr and Rose Netzorg Kerr, in addition to a short manuscript written by James Wilfrid Kerr upon Parsons' death. The tribute relates Kerr's experiences as a World War One veteran studying art under Parsons' tutelage.

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Frank Alvah Parsons lectures on art and prints of period rooms

Creator : Parsons, Frank Alvah

1917-1922, 1.8 linear ft

Frank Alvah Parsons (1866-1930) began as an instructor at the New York School of Art in 1904. In 1911 he became director, renaming the school the New York School of Fine and Applied Art to reflect his reorientation of the institution's focus toward the practical design disciplines. The school was later renamed to honor Parsons' leadership. The collection is comprised of published editions of 21 of Parsons' lectures on art, and includes prints of period rooms he used to illustrate his lectures.

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Anthony Pellino student work

Creator : Pellino, Anthony

1982-1986, 1.5 linear ft

The collection consists of examples of Anthony Pellino's student art and design work, the bulk of which was completed in 1983, in his first year at Parsons. The notes that appear throughout the collection guide were compiled from notes made by Pellino at the time that he donated his work to the New School Archives.

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Design Strategies student work from courses taught by Robert Rabinovitz

Creator : Rabinovitz, Robert

1998-2011, 14.5 linear feet

This collection contains work produced by students enrolled in Robert Rabinovitz's courses in the School of Design Strategies at Parsons School of Design. Courses include Product Design, Design and Management, design lab, and Technology and Social Interaction, among others. The student work consists largely of published book projects. Also found in this collection are syllabi and other course materials created by Rabinovitz.

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Sunbeam Randall student work

Creator : Randall, Sunbeam

1948-1993, 0.5 linear ft

Sunbeam "Sunny" Randall (1898-1993) graduated from Parsons School of Design Interior Design Department in 1951 and worked as a professional decorator. The collection includes course materials, furniture and decorative style sketches, class notes, and a scrapbook documenting Randall's art tour of Europe as a Parsons student in 1950.

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Margaret McKay Tee papers

Creator : Tee, Margaret McKay

1908-1993, 0.1 linear ft

Margaret McKay Tee (1882-1955) came to New York from Cripple Creek, Colorado in 1902 to attend Cooper Union. Frank Alvah Parsons, whom she met at Columbia Teacher's College, later hired Tee as a student instructor at the New York School of Art (soon thereafter renamed the New York School of Fine and Applied Art). After moving back to Colorado, Tee carried on a correspondence with Parsons for many years. Tee's papers include correspondence from Frank Alvah Parsons, photographs of Tee's paintings, and an autobiographical essay in which Tee describes her upbringing in the West, and her experiences as a young art student in New York City.

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Eugene Paul Ullman papers

Creator : Ullman, Eugene Paul

circa 1880-2000, 11.4 linear ft

Eugene Paul Ullman (1877-1953), was an American painter of landscapes, portraits, and still lifes. Ullman studied and later taught with artist William Merritt Chase during the earliest years of the Chase School, predecessor school to what became Parsons School of Design. Ullman then moved from New York to Paris, where he briefly joined James Abbott McNeil Whistler's atelier and began receiving major awards for his work. The collection consists of artwork in the form of sketches and photographs of paintings, correspondence, exhibition catalogs, a scrapbook, and unpublished essay manuscripts. Much of the material is annotated by Ullman's youngest son, Pierre L. Ullman. Also included are files documenting the life of an older son, Paul Ullman, who was killed in France during the Second World War.

Carolyn Nesbitt Wagenseller student work

Creator : Wagenseller, Carolyn Nesbitt

1960-1963, 0.4 linear ft

The collection consists primarily of lecture notes and course-related notebooks maintained by designer Carolyn Nesbitt Wagenseller ('63) during her studies in Parsons School of Design's Interior Design Department.

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Raymond Waldron papers

Creator : Waldron, Raymond

1939-1994, 4 linear ft

Raymond S. Waldron, Jr. (1913-2002) attended the New York School of Fine and Applied Art (later, Parsons School of Design) from 1938-1941. After serving in World War II, Waldron worked for Lord & Taylor. In 1965, he established his own interior decoration firm. The Raymond Waldron papers include his student work, a travel sketchbook, and professional files. Work from Waldron's years at New York School of Fine and Applied Art include notebooks with graded assignments, instructor handouts, sketches, and tracings; and larger-format renderings of European interiors and sites. A travel sketchbook reflects Waldron's later design studies in New York, France and Italy. Materials from Waldron's professional career include project files, design research, stereo slides of the Blair House, among other projects, and publicity for his business.